Here’s my Month Four Summary on my (Modified) Minimum Wage Challenge. I’m doing well, and can even see buying a freezer later in the summer. My spent of $1073 is $519 less than my average per month last year. (I know have some banked, but it will be spent on non-monthly budgeted purchases.) Adding back in the $39 I put into "savings" under the challenge, I saved an additional $558 for the $20 challenge. This makes for $2232 in savings in four months for my $20 Challenge.

1) My “savings” fund has $156 in it; $39 a month for 4 months. My newly started combination emergency fund/large purchase fund has hit a whopping $21.20; what I added to it in June was triple what I added in May, so there is progress there. It shows a balance of zero because it’s not in my main “account” in my budgeting spreadsheet.
2) My total to spend is less than $1073 (plus $1 extra income) to account for any overspending in any categories from last month. See prior posts or the YouNeedABudget site for more details.
3) $395 is the sum of the positive numbers; that’s the amount I have banked and unspent for non-monthly expenses.
4) The $983.64 comes from $1073 less the overspending in 3 categories in June, $89.36.

My income for the month included my regular $1073 CA Minimum Wage (see prior posts for details) plus $1 dollar from a survey; no recycling or books sold on half.com this month.

The miscellaneous this month is my half of the Costco membership. We’ve weighed the benefits, and for us membership is worth it; partially because of the significantly cheaper gas at Costco, partially on some computer related items. I’ve also now found that I can get significant cheese savings at Costco, now that I’ve started an official Price Book.

My medical expenses have calmed down and I have been spending less by habit; it takes less and less effort. My grocery average is now down to $93. I’m now using a Price Book, cooking more from scratch, and doing a lot of garage saling and thrift store shopping. I’m also going out much less, and enjoying it more when I do.